November 15, 2016

The High Court here today set Jan 26 next year for hearing of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to strike out certain paragraphs in former Transport minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik’s defence statement.

Judge Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin set the date in chambers during case management in which the Prime Minister was represented by counsel Nik Aliah Hanafi.

The lawyer confirmed the date when contacted by reporters and also disclosed that both parties had submitted their documents to the court.

On Oct 27, 2015, the prime minister sued Dr Ling alleging that the defendant’s statement which appeared in a news portal on Oct 3, 2015 had slandered him.

Najib is seeking among others, an order compelling Dr Ling to issue a public apology in newspapers and magazines as determined by him.

Najib is also seeking an injunction to restrain Dr Ling and his staff or agents from continuing to publish or utter any defamatory statements against him.

In his statement of claim, Najib alleged that Dr Ling had falsely and maliciously slandered him during a function at a university college here.

Dr Ling’s statement, he alleged, could be taken to mean that he had misused government funds by depositing them into his personal account for personal interest and misused government investment company, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.

The defendant’s statement, Najib alleged, also implied that he was incompetent and unfit to be the prime minister of Malaysia.

Last July 18, the court allowed Najib’s application to set aside former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s affidavit that was submitted to support Dr Ling’s application to strike out the plaintiff’s lawsuit.